Kaili has been in pre-trial detention in Belgium since December 9, which has recently been extended. Three other suspects remain in detention for the time being: former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, Italian Secretary General of the NGO No Peace Without Justice, Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, and Kaili’s partner Francesco Giorgi. Kaili’s lawyer Michalis Dimitrakopoulos blames Giorgi, despite recent media reports of a partial confession by the former MP.
Now the Greek authorities are following the possible flows of money from Qatar, which are said to have gone to Kaili’s circle. The group is accused of creating anti-money sentiment for Qatar in the European Parliament. Bags full of money were found in Kaili’s Brussels apartment, as well as on Kaili’s father in a Brussels hotel.
The investigators found another 600,000 euros at Panzeri. As a result, Kaili, who is also accused of fraud with EU budget funds, lost her EU post and membership in the Greek PASOK party and the Social Democratic group in the European Parliament.
20 million suspected in Panamanian accounts
The head of the Greek anti-money laundering authority, Charalampos Vourliotis, made an urgent request to the authorities in Panama, according to the online magazine Politico. They were supposed to find out whether funds from the emirate went to Kaili herself or to suspected accomplices via the tax haven. It is about a total of 20 million euros, according to Politico. Shortly after Kaili’s arrest, Greek finance had frozen all of the Kaili family’s assets. A large plot of land on the island of Paros that Kaili and Giorgi had bought and the account used to buy it were also confiscated. The suspicion is “acceptance of bribes and money laundering”.
The request was sent as a result of tips on social networks. There were postings picked up by various media outlets that appeared to show bank documents from Panama related to Kaili. According to these images, Kaili, her father, Alexandros Kailis, and her mother, Maria Ignatiadou, are said to hold accounts at Bladex Bank of Panama that are funded from Qatar. Greece now wants copies of transactions, safe deposit boxes and possible evidence of real estate transactions from Panama.
According to Kaili’s lawyer, the documents are fake. He asked the Greek authorities to investigate “to uncover the falsification of the documents relating to mythical transfers from Qatar to Eva Kaili”. The island property was also acquired legally, from Kaili’s income, according to the defense attorney.
Target Morocco
Not only Qatar and Panama are now part of the investigation. Belgian authorities are continuing to investigate indications that Morocco is playing a leading role in the corruption scandal. The “Spiegel” recently reported that the Moroccan foreign secret service DGED is said to have been involved at the highest level in influencing MEPs. The magazine referred to investigation documents.
As a result, the DGED had already recruited Panzeri, Giorgi and MEP Andrea Cozzolino in 2019. The aim was to influence the social democratic group in the European Parliament.
According to the report, the current Moroccan ambassador to Poland, Abderrahim Atmun, was responsible for guiding the three men. According to “Spiegel”, he is said to have given the suspects envelopes full of cash. The three Italians also had direct contact with the director general of the secret service, Mohamed Yassine Mansouri. As a result, Morocco is said to have recently become involved in issues such as fishing rights and Western Sahara, which is largely controlled by Rabat.
Panzeri in the center
Panzeri is considered the mastermind of the scandal, his NGO is said to have been the hub for payments from third countries to EU decision-makers. For many years, Panzeri was a member of the social-democratic Partito Democratico (PD), currently the main opposition party in Italy. In 2017 he moved to the party of former Italian Communist leader and ex-Prime Minister Massimo D’Alema, Articolo 1, but remained in the European Parliament in the Social Democrats group.
The Brussels public prosecutor is certain that Panzeri pulled the strings when it came to influencing political and economic decisions by the EU Parliament in favor of states such as Qatar and Morocco. Panzeri also had official ties to the Maghreb state while he was an MEP, chairing the delegation for relations with Morocco.
